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Weaning

Water for 6 month old

9 replies

PeppermintPatty · 02/11/2007 20:25

I'm reading a book about weaning and it says to offer a drink of cooled boiled water (in a cup) with food.

Is there a reason the water needs to be boiled?
I assumed tap water was pretty safe to drink...

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spottyshoes · 02/11/2007 20:47

Most say CB water up to 6mths but normal tap water is ok after that. Occasionally I have seen it say 12mths though. DS is just over 6mths and I still give him CB boiled water but if I cant i.e the kettle has just been boiled, I dont stress about giving him it from the tap.

Having seen some of the stuff he puts in his mouth i cant be too worried about it

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bubblagirl · 02/11/2007 21:06

i never gave my ds tap water until he was nearly one always pre boiled and made several bottles at a time

baby should be having cooled boiled water in between feeds anyway as just milk can dehydrate

boiled to kill any parasites that are harmless to us but small babies immune systems not strong enough to deal with something like that could be wrong but this was what i was told guts are not formed enough to handle it

i did give tap water but not when baby was small took me along time to feel brave enough

they say water with food as juice would fill them up and make them want more sweet things which could affect them wanting there dinner bottle is fine though if not a cup

think they only say cup as bottles for to long can affect teeth bla bla bla my ds wouldnt drink from a cup untill just over a yr old

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weeonion · 02/11/2007 21:12

"baby should be having cooled boiled water in between feeds anyway as just milk can dehydrate"

i didnt know that! dd is bf and gets cups of milk with meals - never milk! oops

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OverMyDeadBody · 02/11/2007 21:17

"baby should be having cooled boiled water in between feeds anyway as just milk can dehydrate"

Sorry bubblegirl but that is not true. Milk gives all the fluids a baby needs for first year of life. Milk can not dehydrate a baby.

(sorry, I know there is a lot of conflicting advice out there, not having a go or anything)

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spottyshoes · 02/11/2007 22:34

If you are breastfeeding you do not have to give water at all as bm is all your baby will need. I offer water with meals purely to get him used to it and also so we can take a cup out with us if he gets a bit fussy.

I have no experience of bottle feeding but have heard hp's say that you do need to offer it.

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pinkspottywellies · 02/11/2007 22:39

DD was exclusively breastfed and I never offered water until I started weaning, when I started to offer water with food. I thought it was supposed to be boiled until a year but I always forgot to boil it so just gave her water straight from the tap rather than none at all. Then once I'd done it thought I might as well carry on so I never boiled it! (Hi spottyshoes!)

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spottyshoes · 02/11/2007 22:49

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Seona1973 · 02/11/2007 22:51

I never gave extra water to formula fed ds until we started weaning at 5 1/2 months. He was perfectly happy on just formula till then. Tap water is fine from 6 months and ds has had it since then with meals.

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PeppermintPatty · 03/11/2007 23:41

My DD is exBF atm so I've not been giving her any other drinks.

I was just thinking about it for when I wean her next month (she will be 6 months by then).

If you think tap water is ok for a 6 month old, I won't bother boiling it and then waiting for it to cool (I'd be there all flipping day if I did that every meal time!).

I'm pretty sure my DD's had a sneaky drink of bath water anyway, and she's not come to any harm!